In the world of combat sports, the most incredible stories often happen away from the brightest lights. That was the case in São Paulo, Brazil, recently, where Centurion FC 28 witnessed a debutant secure two spectacular back-to-back wins on the same night.
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The man in question is Brazil’s own Yuri Popeye, who won the CFC Tournament in the welterweight division. The event saw a number of MMA bouts alongside boxing and kickboxing. But the night belonged to Popeye—real name Enzo Fernandes—who, in one of the opening fights, stepped into the CFC cage for the first time and sent a powerful message.
Facing Guilherme Severo, who had plenty of experience and was coming off two finishes, Popeye wasn’t intimidated. The debutant backed his 38-year-old opponent to the cage in the second round and delivered a brutal left hook to Severo’s body before coming up top with a thunderous right hook to the chin that sent him crashing to the canvas. The win helped Popeye advance into the finals, where the fight proved to be much tougher.
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The Brazilian quickly settled himself. The finals saw him facing Luciano Oliveira, yet another MMA veteran. Although Popeye had to weather the storm of powerful punches early on in the fight, he quickly proved that knockouts aren’t the only thing he is good at. In the second round, he forced Oliveira into a haphazard takedown attempt and followed it up with a few punches, which appeared to have softened the veteran.
Wasting no opportunity, Popeye quickly locked him up in a choke, which forced Oliveira to tap, thus winning him the Centurion FC 28 Welterweight Grand Prix. With a few more such performances, Popeye could be firmly on the UFC’s radar. The tournament format of multiple fights in one night no longer exists in the UFC. But long ago, it helped discover some of the sport’s biggest names.
Yuri Popeye is the latest to win two fights in one night
Long before Popeye achieved the feat, Randy Couture and Royce Gracie both showcased the rare ability to defeat multiple opponents in a single night. At UFC 13 in 1997, Couture stepped in as a late replacement and made an immediate impact. Despite giving up significant size, he dominated his semifinal opponent, Tony Halme, securing a quick rear-naked choke.
He then carried that momentum into the finals, where he finished Steven Graham via TKO to win the tournament. Similarly, Gracie built his legacy in the 90s by competing multiple times in one evening. At UFC 1, he defeated three opponents in a single night, but even in smaller events, he consistently handled more than one fight per card.
While the one-night tournament is a relic of MMA’s past, Popeye’s dominant victories prove that the format can still forge a new star overnight, leaving fans eager to see if he can replicate that success on a bigger stage.
